Product Description
Performance Notes:
Written in 1951 by Meredith Willson (best known for The Music Man), "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" has been covered multiple times since becoming a staple of the Christmas season. Most often recognized from the versions by either Perry Como or Bing Crosby, the song has some varied explanations as to where Willson might have written the song. One belief is that it was written in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia's Grand Hotel which sits across from Frost Park (mentioned as part of the line of "tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well"). The other is that the "Grand Hotel" is the Historick Park Inn Hotel in Willson's hometown of Mason City, Iowa.
Rehearsal Notes:
The swing should be light and bouncy, with a moderate tempo. A good balance between the Piccolo and C Flute parts at [22] is beneficial. The Alto part matches the Piccolo lead, albeit two octaves lower - the C Flute parts should not overpower the Alto. If the balance is challenging and there are multiple players to a part, switching one or two to the Alto in C part (4th Flute) will aid the balance better than working with dynamics.
Keep an eye on the modulations leading into key changes. Players will need to be certain that they are hitting correct pitches in both the measures before and after the change.
The final measures following the fermata (mm. 50-end) should not have any sort of decrease in tempo. Each of the half notes should be clearly articulated as a group.
Instrumentation:
This arrangement of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is scored for an instrumentation of six parts: Piccolo, 3 C Flutes, Alto Flute (with a C Flute transposed part included), and Bass Flute.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.